Wisma Putra Awaiting Full Report On Malaysian Killed In The Philippines

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- The Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) is still waiting for a full report from the Philippine Government on a claim that a Malaysian was killed in a battle in Mamasapano Town, Philippines on Sunday. A Wisma Putra spokesman said based on a preliminary report received, there was a battle between Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters and the country's police commandoes on Sunday. "The man was reported killed but confirmation has not been received yet although the Philippine Government informed us that they have proof it was the man," he told Bernama Tuesday. Philippines media reported that a Malaysian, said to be Zulkifli Hir alias Marwan, was killed in the battle which also claimed the lives of 50 Philippines police commandoes and injured 12 others. The battle took place when the commandoes tried to nab Marwan, who is high on the wanted list for terrorist activities, in a 11-hour battle at Mamasapano town, which is controlled by MILF, on Sunday morning. In the meantime, the Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the Malaysian Embassy in Manila was still waiting for further notification from the Philippine Government before issuing a statement, including to Marwan's family. Meanwhile, AFP reported that the Interior Secretary of the Philippines Manuel Roxas told a media conference in Manila Tuesday that "there is a high likelihood, according to the participants, that Marwan was killed in the operation, but this needs confirmation." "While the commandoes failed to recover the body of their main target, they were able to take pictures, and these pictures will undergo a process to determine whether it was Marwan or not," he said. Roxas said he had personally seen some of the photographs, but could not "tell from these pictures whether it was Marwan or not". Malaysian Federal Police (Bukit Aman) Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division principal assistant director Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said, to date, no official confirmation had been received from his Filipino counterpart that the person killed was Marwan. -- BERNAMA